The father of slain Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl said his family would not comment on the capture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed until it was certain the captured terror mastermind had a hand in his son’s death.

“There is too much noise and there are not enough facts right now,” said Judea Pearl, speaking from his home in California. “We will make a statement when it is clear there is a link.”

Mohammed is thought to have been the cold-blooded killer who beheaded Pearl – who was kidnapped in Karachi, Pakistan, on Jan. 23, 2002.

The information came from Fazal Karim, who participated in Pearl’s abduction.

Pakistani police picked up Karim in a crackdown on militant groups last May and he agreed to cooperate with authorities.

Karim said he didn’t know any of his co-conspirators’ names but picked Mohammed from photos. He then described how Mohammed slashed Pearl’s throat while he and another terrorist held the reporter down. A third videotaped the act.